'I'd Rather Lose To Verstappen Than Play Favourites': Zak Brown's Puzzling Admission Amid Norris-Piastri Battle

Last Updated:November 08, 2025, 15:44 IST

McLaren CEO Zak Brown vows no team orders between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, risking a repeat of 2007 as Max Verstappen closes in ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Zak Brown and Lando Norris (X)

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has made it clear — the team won’t be choosing sides between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the world championship battle, even if it means losing the title to Max Verstappen.

With both McLaren drivers neck-and-neck, just one point apart, heading into the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Brown insists the Woking outfit will not repeat the mistakes of 2007, when McLaren lost the championship to Kimi Raikkonen after internal rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

“We’re well aware of 2007," Brown told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “Two drivers tied on points, one gets in the front. But we’ve got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We’re playing offence; we’re not playing defence.

I’d rather go, ‘we did the best we could with our drivers tied in points and the other beat us by one,’ than tell one of them, ‘you don’t get your chance.’ Forget it, that’s not how we go racing."

The American boss doubled down, saying McLaren will not “flip a coin" to decide who gets priority in the title run-in.

Friendly Fire For Now

In contrast to the explosive Hamilton-Alonso or Senna-Prost rivalries of the past, Norris and Piastri have maintained a surprisingly cool-headed relationship through the season. With the Constructors’ Championship already sealed, McLaren are letting both chase their personal glory.

But as the title decider looms, tensions could rise fast.

Both Norris and Piastri are still hunting their first world title, but the inter-team battle has already helped Verstappen close what was once a 104-point gap — now down to just 36 with four races to go.

A Lesson From 2007

The parallels are striking. Back in 2007, rookie Hamilton and double world champion Alonso took points off each other, fracturing McLaren from within and allowing Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to snatch the title by a single point.

Brown says he’d rather risk that same heartbreak than stifle competition inside the team. “If 2007 happens again, I’d rather have that outcome than any other that involves playing favourites," he said.

What’s Next

With Sao Paulo up next, Norris leads Piastri by just a single point — both hunting their first F1 crown, both driving the fastest car on the grid. And with Verstappen lurking, McLaren’s bold “no team orders" policy could either make history… or repeat it.

Siddarth Sriram

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...Read More

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...

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News sports 'I'd Rather Lose To Verstappen Than Play Favourites': Zak Brown's Puzzling Admission Amid Norris-Piastri Battle

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